TL;DR – It’s a wonderful romp, full of pomp and circumstance, and a desperate need for an extra edit.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a sequence in the credits and a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of the film.

The Fall Guy Review –

Today, I am looking at a film that is genuinely quite odd. It is an Action-Adventure, Romantic-Comedy, Mystery, Adaption of an Old TV Show, that is also making a meta-commentary on how Hollywood treats people who work on the stunt team. Yet with all of that, they made it work, and a blast of fun at that.

So to set the scene, Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is a suave and super-confident stuntman who knows how to take a fall while on fire and thrown into a rock. When he is not being blown up, he is flirting with the very professional camera operator, Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt). However, when his incompetent actor Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who could not do his own stunts in his dreams, wanted a stunt done again because they saw ‘too much face’. But the stunt goes wrong, and Colt breaks his back. Eighteen months later, Tom’s Producer, Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), calls Colt, who is now a valet. She needs him to come back to Sydney because Jody has her first director role, and they need his stunt prowess. But did anyone ask Jody?

Okay, let’s rip that band-aid off straight away and make it clear that Ryan and Emily have fantastic chemistry, and when the film is focusing on that, it is at its best. It is honestly a delight to see them play off each other in every moment: when they are in love, when they are fighting, when they are having an argument via the medium of explaining the script over a megaphone. This is so important because the entire film would not work if you didn’t believe their relationship. One thing that surprised me was just how meta this film got. It opens with a love letter to the stunt team and 100% calls out the Oscars for not having a Stunt category. But it goes so much deeper than that, which should not be surprising given this is made by 87North Productions.

Talking about stunts, we need to explore the action. It does fall more on the comedic side of things, and there are some hilarious moments. For example, can you spot all the unicorns? Or how much glass can there be? It should not be a surprise that the stunt team works exceptionally well, and on that front, you need to stay around for the credits. Now, I have not watched the TV show on which they based this. However, from what I can see, this is more than just a lift of the title; it is not a whole lot more than that. Overall, the narrative is quite solid, with the mystery, action, and romance themes interplaying well together. However, some of the supporting cast did feel a bit wasted. It was also lovely to see just how much of Sydney they showed off, like this is Matrix level of exposure. However, I do think that I am obliged by honour to call out a slight dig at the Aussie stunt teams.

While the film is a blast, shout out to the Kelpies who portray Jean Claude, and if you have seen Barbie, you know how good Ryan Gosling is with his physical comedy. However, as I was watching the film, I did feel like it needed another editing pass. While it was fun to see the oners at the start, I liked that when they called out the oner, they actively did not show it as an oner. However, there were multiple times where you felt scenes dragged on a touch too long than they should have. The way that they edited the main act two action scene felt a bit flat, and there was a point where you knew how the film would end, and you had to wait more time than it should have taken to get to that point. Some of this could have been condensed down. Thankfully, none of these issues torpedo the film, but they do hold it back a touch.                 

In the end, do we recommend The Fall Guy? Yes, we would. It’s not a perfect film, but it is a fun one. The chemistry is a delight, and I laughed all the way from my core on multiple occasions. If you liked The Fall Guy, we would recommend to you The Mummy.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched The Fall Guy?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 


Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Fall Guy
Directed by –     David Leitch
Screenplay by – Drew Pearce
Based on – The Fall Guy by Glen A. Larson
Music by – Dominic Lewis
Cinematography by – Jonathan Sela
Edited by – Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir
Production/Distribution Companies – 87North Productions, Entertainment 360 & Universal Pictures
Starring – Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Winston Duke, Hannah Waddingham, Stephanie Hsu & Teresa Palmer with Zara Michales, Ben Knight, David Collins, Adam Dunn, Matuse, Jack Doherty, Kalkidan China & Tahlia Crinis and Lee Majors & Jason Momoa
Rating – Australia: M; Canada: PG; Germany: 12; New Zealand: M; United Kingdom: 12A; United States: PG-13